A School of Caring Residents
Reflecting on the many benefits of mentoring
Gang He | | 5 min read | Discussion
Credit: Supplied by Gang He
While organizing and packing my things to move into my new home in Long Island, I came across a plethora of gift cards from early-career doctors I mentored in the past. I couldn’t help but feel touched and nostalgic as I read back through each card. One unique card in particular came from a mother of two and fellow alumna from the Pacific Northwest, approaching the end of her fellowship at Mayo Clinic. I couldn’t fathom how she found such a special card, which features a sentimental short story:
"This little fish cares! This one, and this one, and this one..."
This is a true story. The morning after a heavy storm, a man took a walk along the seaside, enjoying the scenery. When looking down at the puddles, he noticed many small fish struggling in the water, evidently swept ashore by the storm. Some jumped from puddles into the sand in an attempt to get back to the sea. There may have been hundreds or even thousands of trapped fish. It wouldn’t be long before the shallow water seeps and the little fish dried up.
The man continued to walk forward when he noticed a little boy in his path. The boy bent down in front of a puddle, picked up a handful of the little fish, and threw them back into the sea. After watching for a while, the man approached the boy, saying, “Son, there are hundreds of small fish in the puddle. You cannot save them all.”
“I know,” the boy replied.
“Oh? So why are you still saving them? Who cares if you do this?”
“This little fish cares!” the boy answered, picking up a small fish and throwing it into the sea. “This one cares, and this one, and this one…”
The man was moved and watched quietly as the boy continued to pick up fish. Soon enough, the man found himself bending down, picking up a small fish, and throwing it towards the sea. The boy and the man smiled at each other and raised their arms, celebrating saving a small life.
Of course, when I first received this card I was greatly moved and inspired, and the feeling stands today rereading it many years later. Eighteen years have passed since I started coaching Chinese Medical Graduates (CMGs) for enrolling in residency and during this time, I’ve worked closely with 80 students, including one American Medical Graduate (AMG). More than 75 percent of these students were successful in entering residency, with the majority taking pathology, internal medicine, and OB/GYN positions.
Additionally, I’ve supported many hundreds of CMGs eagerly looking into residency through emails, telephone and video calls, web teleconferences, and YouTube lectures. Now, I’ve let go of mentoring CMGs, but over the years I would help anyone so long as they had one characteristic: they cared. Guiding someone through the path towards residency was just as much a self fulfilling process for me as it was for the students, especially seeing their ambitions come to fruition!
Every March on residents' Match Day, I would eagerly sit by the phone and computer, anticipating news from my mentored CMGs. It was a joy whenever the phone rang to hear “Dr He, I matched!” followed by cries of excitement. Amongst these were students that graduated 15-25 years after medical school, many being parents that had failed multiple times in the past, and the “lucky ones” that were accepted with one interview opportunity.
Of course, hearing the excitement from my students often brought me to tears along with them, especially after seeing the challenges they’d faced and overcome in order to get that exciting match. Many years ago, I was also one of those students feeling like a fish trapped on a sandy shore: long gaps from graduation, low USMLE scores, no US clinical experience, and no social network with medical professionals. Every time a student shared their success or failures with me, I was brought right back to my own experiences, and I felt these feelings ignite once again on rediscovering old gift cards.
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Today, many of my previous mentees have graduated from residency and fellowships, some even at Ivy League or top tier programs, becoming independent practicing physicians in various specialties across the US. Most excel past my own professional successes, becoming program directors and leaders in their area of expertise. Over the years, I’ve lost touch with many of my old CMGs, but this is the natural evolution of residency and medical training. There are always more students awaiting their opportunity to advance into residency and beyond.
Looking further across the US, there are about eight thousand Chinese-American physicians in practice, which remains low compared to the population of new Chinese or Asian immigrants and the entire American population. More experienced individuals are needed to guide and assist these new professionals in enrolling in residency, progressing steadily, and eventually becoming independent physicians who can provide healthcare, especially to the increasing number of Chinese and Asian immigrants. I am proud to have been a mentor or teacher for individuals who desperately need support.
The journey ahead is still long, but I’m sure the next generations will bring schools of CMG students pushing through their medical training, into residency and beyond…
Consultant pathologist at Harlem Hospital—Columbia University/NYU-LI Long Island Community Hospital, New York, USA.
